Amy Winehouse’s rebellious “Rehab” single was a blunt and honest reflection on her issues with addiction. Winehouse’s father and management told her to enter treatment for alcohol addiction and she discussed their plea with producer Mark Ronson. She wrote her response to the request which was “No, No, No,” in her notebook and this became the basis of “Rehab” along with her conversation with Ronson. They worked together and created an  unforgettable song rooted in soul music that made turmoil sound carefree. The video left an indelible impression too with Winehouse and her band performing in a bathroom.  Her Donny Hathaway reference mentioned in the song was enacted by one of her band members who dressed like him for the video. Back To Black was recorded with The Dap-Kings but it was Winehouse’s group in the visual. Winehouse had quickly become the face of English pop music and was also enchanting American audiences with her throwback jazz and soul styles combined into her own idiomatic style. 

 

Winehouse’s “Rehab” was praised in her native England, the United States and around the world. She acquired several accolades for “Rehab” including the Ivor Novello Award, three Grammy Awards and enough sales in the UK to make it the best-selling record of 2007. The song was a Top Ten hit in several European countries and the United States. The remix with Jay-Z also helped “Rehab” gain traction on the charts. 

“Rehab” was recognized as Winehouse’s signature song and Back To Black became one of the most revered albums in the history of recorded music. As of 2021, Winehouse’s sophomore album is the second best-selling record in the UK. The success and artistic choices of Back To Black paved the way for future artists like Adele, Sam Smith,  Florence and the Machine and Duffy. 

Winehouse died in 2011 at the age of 27 after succumbing to alcohol poisoning. In 2014, a statue of her was unveiled in  Camden Town, London. The documentary Amy came out in 2015 and received Grammy, Academy, BAFTA and MTV Movie Awards. In 2021, Reclaiming Amy was aired by the BBC and offered corrected information about Winehouse’s life that was said in the first documentary. Amy Winehouse At The BBC was reissued on May 7, 2021, with additional music.

 

[youtube id=”TJAfLE39ZZ8″]Amy Winehouse’s “Back To Black” was a part of her album of the same name that remixed her love of throwback sounds of the ’60s. Mark Ronson co-wrote the song about heartbreak with Winehouse and produced it using Motown, Phil Spector and Sharon Jones’ James Brown-influenced band the Dap-Kings. The British singer’s unflinching emotional honesty left her audience and a large part of the music press in awe. Veteran critic Robert Christgau believed that Winehouse’s popularity was owed to a mannered spectacle driven by 20th-century African-American musical platitudes. But several other writers compared her to singers like Sarah Vaughn and Macy Gray both recognized in their respected jazz and pop realms.

“Back To Black” became a signature song for Winehouse in her native England and in the United States. The third single from her sophomore album transported the girl-group sound into 2007 and accumulated the same amount of respect as the best songs from that period. Back To Black, the album made Winehouse the first British woman to win five Grammys in one night and it was the seventh biggest-seller in the world in 2008. Since her 2008 passing the single has been covered by many including Beyoncé and Andre 3000 for The Great Gatsby soundtrack. A video of Winehouse and Ronson recording “Back To Black” was featured in the 2005 documentary Amy. 

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Amy is a documentary about the late singer Amy Winehouse directed by Asif Kapadia and it contains rare footage of her life and unheard recordings. Amy will debut in the U.K. on July 3rd.

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Nas is a bartender who takes home the girl while Amy Winehouse’s hologram-like image sings off a brick wall in the “Cherry Wine” video that is reminiscent of Sade’s early videos.